Access to higher education, incentivized savings, and financial education. All combined in a single long-term program aimed at families, including low-income ones. It's called “Future Choices” and they presented it this morning in Turin Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, Intesa Sanpaolo e Pio Office FoundationThe project will be tested in Piedmont in the second half of 2026, and its extension to other regions will be evaluated in 2027.
How Future Choices Works
The project will involve 2.000 children between 0 and 6 years old. Through small monthly payments of an amount of your choice between 5 and 30 euros, made from early childhood and throughout the entire growth path of the children, the low-income Piedmontese families, with an ISEE of less than 15.000 euros, will be able to gradually build up capital dedicated to their higher education.
At that point, with ainitial donation of 10 million euros – of which 5 million euros allocated by the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and 5 million euros by Intesa Sanpaolo – the savings paid by low-income families are doubled with an equivalent contribution.
The project is aimed at promote access to tertiary education and to combat educational poverty among girls and boys. Pio Office Foundation will intervene to implement the initiative operationally, contributing its skills in supporting families in vulnerable situations and in managing incentivised savings programmes, while Intesa Sanpaolo will make its branches available as a first point of contact for information, with a welcoming role and guidance towards the Ufficio Pio Foundation.
Messina, Intesa: "A program that contributes to the country's progress."
“Promoting access to educational and tertiary education opportunities for all means investing in the future of people and territories” comments Marco Gilli, president of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation.
“Long-term investments in human capital, social mobility and the ability of new generations to face the challenges of the future – he explains – contribute both to combating inequalities and to the growth and competitiveness of the country".
Intesa Sanpaolo's social program also recalls the CEO Charles Messina, "One of the key areas is combating educational poverty among young people. With 'Future Choices' we want to address the Piedmontese communities for a long-term project that will lead today's boys and girls to become educated adults, masters of their present, capable of building a satisfying family and professional life and thus contribute to the progress of the country".
“Since 2010 we have been promoting incentive savings programs linked to education and training, convinced that educational investment is one of the most effective factors for combating inequalities and expanding people's choices,” he explains. Davide Porporato, president of the Ufficio Pio Foundation. "Over time, the results and evaluations of our interventions have encouraged us to act increasingly earlier, extending support to increasingly younger age groups. With Scelte Future, we are taking a further step forward: helping families imagine, plan, and build the future of their children from birth".
